Goggles are used in many activities to protect wearer's eyes and part of their face against harsh temperatures, wind, rain and snow, sun and bright light, and flying objects and debris. Goggles are commonly used in sports like skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, motorcycling, and underwater diving. Goggles also have many industrial applications, such as in sand blasting and welding.
In many of the aforementioned activities, in particular, sports activities, it is desirable to be able to take pictures of the scenery or capture some of moments during the activity. For instance, during skiing, a skier may want to take a picture of a friend going down the slopes. Usually, skiers do not like to carry a camera with them, since it is bulky and may get damaged during a fall. In addition, skiers wear gloves, which make the process of picture taking very cumbersome. Therefore, skiers and like, need to have a simple method of taking pictures during their activity. The present invention relates to this need.
With the advent of miniature digital cameras, it is now possible to incorporate a camera in a goggle. For instance, a miniature camera can be imbedded inside a ski goggle with its shutter and power systems being located on the goggle itself. Therefore, skiers do not have to carry an extra camera with them, and can take a picture at any time without taking their gloves out. This makes it convenient for a skier to take pictures of the scenery during his or her travel down the slops.
Several prior arts disclose head mounted systems with camera and video capabilities. Many are designed for military application. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,827 discloses a video display mounted to the helmet of a soldier so that the soldier can aim a weapon to a target by moving his head. U.S. Patent Application 2007/0121068 disclosed another military goggle with video capability. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,582 issued to Coombs disclosed a thermal imaging camera in combination with a goggle. Military goggles, although have variety of image capturing features, are not suitable for common usage, such as in sports.
There are also several patents on eye glasses having a camera. U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,157 issued to Campbell discloses a pair of eye glasses with a miniature video camera mounted on the frame of the glasses. U.S. Pat. No. 6,657,673 issued to Ishikawa discloses a camera mounted on a temple of a eye glasses for recording images. The signal from the camera is recorded on a device worn on the belt of the user. U.S. Patent Application 2007/0030442 by Howell et al. discloses a pair of eye glasses with a camera and other devices. Howell's glasses also comprise of a camera located on its temple and data storage device located remotely, either on the person's body or at a distant location.
Prior arts also disclose underwater imaging systems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,644 issued to Gallagher, which discloses a scuba facemask with an imager which has a display on the lens of the facemask and the power and other accessories are connected to the body of the diver. U.S. Patent Application 2005/0237386 by Sandos discloses a scuba goggle with a detachable camera. The camera is not embedded into the mask and the whole system is bulky.
The prior art disclosing eye glasses with cameras are not designed for sports in demanding environments, such as skiing. For instance, they do not provide the proper protection for a skier. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that the camera and it accessories stand out of the glasses. Also, prior art glasses do not have the data storage system and battery pack right on the glasses. The camera on the eye glasses is wired to a storage system connected elsewhere on the body of the user. In addition, the prior art disclosing diver masks for underwater imaging are not as versatile and easy to use as the present invention.
The prior art taken either singly or in combination, is seen not to describe the instant invention as claimed.